History

London: Tinsley Brothers, 1867. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. A very handsome binding by Bayntun Riviere with gilt raised bands, regal gilt centre tools and gilt top edges. Armorial bookplate. Extra-Illustrated with 30 fine engraved illustrations, 10 of which are hand coloured. One of the most active and crucial reigns of all the British Monarchs covering many great events at home but also the American War of Independence and the French Revolution.

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1909. Half morocco, 8 3/4 inches tall. A superb half morocco binding by Asprey with gilt raised bands, appropriate gilt centre tools within smart gilt framed panels and gilt top edge. Embellished with a colour frontispiece and 51 half-tone plates. A thorough and nostalgic history of drinking and drinking culture in England going back to ancient times.

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1907. Half morocco, 8 3/4 inches tall. A superb half morocco binding by Asprey with gilt raised bands, appropriate gilt centre tools within smart gilt framed panels and gilt top edge. Considerable foxing. Embellished with a colour frontispiece and 5 further colour plates and 32 half-tone plates. A thorough and nostalgic history of sport in England going back to ancient times.

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1911. Half morocco, 8 3/4 inches tall. A superb half morocco binding by Asprey with gilt raised bands, appropriate gilt centre tools within smart gilt framed panels and gilt top edge. Embellished with a colour frontispiece and further black and white plates throughout. A thorough and nostalgic history of food and drink in England going back to ancient times.

London: John Lane The Bodely Head Limited, 1922. Quarter morocco, 11 1/2 inches tall. A pristine quarter morocco by Asprey with gilt raised bands, nautical centre tools and top edge. Illustrated with 21 superb woodcuts. Limted to 75 copies printed on Japon vellum and signed by the artist, this example being number 52. Some foxing and marks to the original endpapers which are bound in. A superb copy of this evocative work.

Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1849 - 1850. 15 volume set, 9 inches tall. Superb Victorian full calf bound by Zaehnsdorf, with gilt raised bands, triple labels in red, black and green, and superb gilt tooling. With the armorial bookplate of Allan Harvey Drummond. Some marks and superficial loss to a long defunct insect to some boards, and some foxing to several plates, but overall in wonderful condition. Sir Archibald Alison's great history consists of 14 volumes plus a uniformly bound Atlas, which contains all 108 maps. The Atlas volume is 11 inches deep. With portraits. These 15 volumes cover the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815'. This set is complete as it was first published. It was continued some years later (See our other set).

London: Nattali and Bond, 1831. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A charming and very scarce work describing a critical period in the history of Paris. Smartly bound in half morocco with a title label and dense gilt tooling on a smooth back. Embellished with a folding map of Paris, 13 engraved views and 26 wood-cuts. Armorial bookplates. Some foxing. This history contains an account of the revolution of 1789; the Tuileires, the Massacre of St Batholomew, Sieges of Paris and the Louvre.

London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1831. 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A plain but handsome half calf binding with raised bands and twin maroon labels. Lord Canning held senior cabinet posts before becoming Prime Minister in 1827, he also famously fought a duel with Lord Castlereagh, causing outrage that two cabinet ministers had resorted to such a method.

London: John Murray, 1831. Half calf, 6 inches tall. A delightful little William IV half calf with gilt raised bands and delicate gilt tooling to the panels. Engraved frontispiece, further engraved portrait and folding genealogical table. An interesting work describing the family, wives, ministers and generals of Napoleon.

Paris: Chez Ant. Aug. Renouard, 1812. Half calf, 5 1/2 inches tall. A charming little English provincial binding with the binder's ticket of Tomkinson of Uttoxeter (see Charles Ramsden's Book Binders of the United Kingdom, page 164). With gilt bands, label and extra gilt panels on a smooth back. 2 pages of prints. In the original French.

London: Cadell et al., 1841-1846. 17 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A magnificent Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine, dense and bright gilt tooling to the panels. Twin gilt fillets frame the boards. Portraits of Hume and Smollett. With the armorial bookplate of Ramsey Abbey. The first 6 volumes cover the 'History of England' from the 'Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688' by David Hume. The next four volumes are a continuation by Tobias Smollett 'From the Revolution to the Death of George the Second'. The concluding seven volumes, by T.S. Hughes, cover the period from 'The Accession of George III., 1760, to the Accession of Queen Victoria, 1837'. A beautiful looking set of this great history.

London: Thomas Tegg, 1827. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A beautiful little Georgian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and contrasting maroon labels. Twin gilt fillets, triple blind fillets and blind corner tools frame the boards. An engraved title page in both volumes. This set covers the period " From the Earliest State to the Death of Alexander the Great". Oliver Goldsmith, novelist, poet and historian influenced later English authors Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Mary Shelley, all of whom mention his characters in their own novels. A delightful set.

London: John W. Parker and Son, 1858-1870. 12 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid set in Victorian full straight grain calf with gilt raised bands and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. The 12 volume set is divided into two sets of 6 volumes both entitled 'The Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth'. Portrait. A fine Country House set from the Library of Bridehead in Dorset.

London: T. Caddell, 1822. 10 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very smart country house set in full Georgian blue straight grain calf with wide gilt raised bands and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. There is an armorial device on the boards, framed within a wide blind roll and twin gilt fillets. With the Fothergill bookplate of the library from which the books were recently dispersed. Although perfectly smart on the shelf and with no splitting and with a clean text, many of the boards have evidence of being nibbled by long defunct insects. An early octavo edition in a very good looking, though blemished, Georgian full calf binding.

London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1848. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. A remarkable Victorian full mottled extra gilt calf binding. We have never seen a binding quite like it, with gilt raised bands, twin labels, the volume labels being extraordinarily ornate and with very fine extra gilt panels. Gilt dentelles and all edges. A neat ink inscription 'on leaving Eton, 1866' on the first black. Slight foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise clean, the bindings themselves are in pristine condition.

London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1865-1861. 5 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid Victorian full calf by Bickers with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. The title labels are slightly faded but still bright and good looking. With bookplate. Slight foxing to the preliminaries then clean. A most handsome set of this classic history of England.